By Rajendra Jadhav
MUMBAI, May 11 (Reuters) - India on Thursday clarified
that duty-free imports of soyoil and sunflower oil shipped
before March 31 would be allowed until the end of June, after
hundreds of thousands of cargoes were stuck at ports over
confusion over import rules.
Earlier this year, the world's biggest importer of vegetable
oils scrapped a duty-free imports quota of 2 million tonnes of
crude sunflower oil and soyoil for the this fiscal started on
April 1.
But the move stuck cargoes of around 90,000 tonnes at Indian
ports and another 180,000 tonnes in transit that were loaded
before the government deadline of March 31, dealers said.
"A few shipments were stuck at ports for the past few weeks
could now enter in to the country after this clarification,”
said Sandeep Bajoria, CEO Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil
brokerage and consultancy firm.
India imports soyoil mainly from Argentina, Brazil and the
United States and sunoil from Russia and Ukraine.
The government notification would provide relief to
importers, but the imports would dampen local oilseed prices and
squeeze farmer income, said B.V. Mehta, executive director of
Solvent Extractors' Association of India.
India's palm oil imports in May could fall since the
clarification would increase availability of soyoil and
sunflower oil, said a New-Delhi-based dealer with a global trade
house.
India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and
Thailand.
Its palm oil imports in April fell 30% from a month earlier
to hit a 14-month low, as its premium over rival soft oils
prompted price-sensitive buyers to shift to sunflower oil and
soyoil, five dealers told Reuters last week.
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Nivedita
Bhattacharjee)
Messaging: rajendra.jadhav.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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